TITLE 31
Motor and Other Vehicles

CHAPTER 31-47.3
The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act

SECTION 31-47.3-1

§ 31-47.3-1. Legislative findings.

(a) Diesel emissions, due in large part to their high concentrations of particulate matter, are associated with severe and multiple health risks to the citizens of Rhode Island, including increased risks of cancer, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, heart attacks and premature death. Reducing diesel pollution will also help advance the state's climate protection goals and climate action plan by reducing black carbon pollution.

(b) Diesel exhaust also contains nitrogen oxides, which contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, or smog. Rhode Island continues to be classified as a "serious-nonattainment area" for ozone.

(c) Reducing diesel pollution may help to stem the tide of the asthma epidemic in Rhode Island where more than one in ten (10) citizens have asthma. Rhode Island ranks eighth (8th) in the U.S. for the worst asthma rates overall, and has the fifth (5th) highest rate for children. Rhode Islanders pay about forty-one million dollars ($41,000,000) per year in asthma-associated health costs. Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children and responsible for the most school absences in Rhode Island.